Saturday, 15 May 2010

Today we have a special edition of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews'. You get an extra special mini rant alongside all your usual chocolate news and posts from others blogs. I would really welcome your comments.

Coming up this week - more Heavenly Cakes, Hotel Chocolat and Zotter to name a few!

Have great weeks.

JIM

News from the chocolate market:

* A company called Paterson's are launching a new line of cookies ... See HERE

* Cadbury are launching three new products ... See HERE ... my Crunchie Rocks review is up tomorrow.

* Naughty Ainsley Harriot and his unhealthy chocolate bars ... who would of thought chocolate could be bad for you ... See HERE

* Candy Blog - whilst we are on the Kit Kat thing it is very much worth reading Cybele's reviews of a number of flavours I have featured recently. Great pictures and a wonderful read ... SEE HERE

RANT TIME!!!

Once upon a time brands here in the UK actually stood for something, but increasingly we are seeing them widdle away all their heritage and equity.

A prime example of this would be these Cadbury Jaffa Cakes priced at 45p in my local Tesco - thats bettter than a 50% discount on the equivalent McVities Jaffa Cakes which cost £1.19. Out of curiosity I bought some to see how they compared. The packaging looked ok and Cadbury is a brand I trust - so why not!?

To be honest I wish I hadn't, as what I tasted was as abysmal as it was depressing. The cake bits were flavourless and felt stale in the mouth, whilst the chocolate was nothing like as flavoursome as usual Cadbury standards. Compared to the McVitie's Jaffas the orange filling was not as zingy or impactful ... the whole thing was just sub-standard.

So what on earth are Cadbury doing? What is the point releasing a product that is so obviously below the standard people expect? Not only has this made me rethink buying such Cadbury products in the future, but it has also made me think twice about whether they care about quality as much as they used to. I can understand to an extent getting a quick, cheap win agaisnt a competitor in the market, but is that really worth risking what consumers think about your brand? Its shorttermism to the extreme.

This isn't just an isolated incident, working in FMCG I see this happening all around our UK supermarkets. Another example is Hellmann's Ketchup and Heinz Mayonnaise, both are half of the price of the others core brand offerings, whilst they are also completely inferior.

I could whittle on all day with examples, but it seems pointless as our most loved brands seem content in throwing away years of brand heritage. My advice to consumers is to stick with what you know - half price products may look tempting, but believe me quality is always worth paying that little bit extra for.

It would be great to hear some more opinions on this matter!

Oh and just if if you were wondering here is the score chart ....nice huh!?